Immigrant abortion dispute sidestepped

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday steered around an abortion dispute between the Trump administration and ACLU lawyers over young immigrant women in custody, telling lower courts on Monday to start over in deciding the issue.

In a short, unsigned opinion, the justices wiped away rulings by several judges who last fall had cleared the way for a 17-year-old to obtain an abortion.

The Supreme Court cited its “established practice” of wiping away rulings in disputed cases that were resolved before the losing side could appeal. In this case, the losing side was the Trump administration, whose lawyers wanted to appeal to the high court.

But they were thwarted in late October when ACLU lawyers moved quickly to take the young woman to a doctor in Texas just hours after a judge in Washington had cleared the way.

Administration lawyers had argued the government had no duty to “facilitate” an abortion by allowing the young women to leave the detention center.

While the abortion for “Jane Doe” appeared to have ended the case, Justice Department officials said they were upset by what had happened, and they accused the ACLU lawyers of misleading them in the hours before the abortion took place.

U.S. Solicitor Gen. Noel Francisco then filed an appeal with the high court, arguing the lower courts were wrong and calling for sanctions against the ACLU.

For nearly six months, the justices weighed the appeal. In the end, they took no action other than to set aside the rulings by the federal judge in Washington and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

The outcome leaves unresolved the question of whether young immigrants who crossed the border illegally have a right to obtain an abortion with private funds.

ACLU lawyers have brought a separate class-action claim on behalf of other young women, and that dispute is still pending.

The justices also took no action on the administration’s request for sanctions against ACLU lawyers.